In today’s Daily Digest, we’ll review the following:

1. No new positions today.
2. Rolled GLD position to June options.
3. No exits since the last report.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!

As of the time I'm writing this (1pm MT), the VIX has been trading back below 30:

While this doesn't mean the coast is clear and the bull market is set to resume, it does signal the extreme fear that exploded last week has subsided as market participants have had time to digest all the headlines and manage risks.

In today's Flow Show, I flew solo and I laid out the latest on the put spread selling campaign I've been executing in $QQQ options since last Wednesday.

I discuss why I implemented the campaign, how it's going so far, and what the next steps are in managing these trades now that $VIX is back below 30:

Sean McLaughlin | Chief Options Strategist, All Star Charts

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

When investing in the stock market, we always want to approach it as "a market of stocks."

Regardless of the environment, there are always stocks showing leadership and trending higher.

We may have to look harder to identify them depending on current market conditions. But there are always stocks that are going up.

The same can be said for weak stocks. Regardless of the environment, there are always stocks that are going down, too. 

We already have multiple scans focusing on stocks making all-time highs, such as Hall of Famers, Minor Leaguers, and the 2 to 100 Club.

We filter these universes for stocks that are exhibiting the best momentum and relative strength characteristics. 

Clearly, we spend a lot of time identifying and writing about leading stocks every week, via multiple reports.

...

Welp, there it is. The dreaded "Death Cross."

I'm mostly just teasing.

I was asked in the All Star Options chat room this afternoon what I thought about this? My answer was that I don't put much stock in an indicator like this. In my selective memory, I feel like I've seen ominous headlines about "death crosses" in the past and they most amounted to much ado about nothing, ultimately.

But again, this might be selective memory.

Here's what's changing my mind... my guy Grant Hawkridge published an interesting piece about this topic today. In it, he says:

"Some people may place limited emphasis on the Death Cross pattern because it is often considered a lagging indicator. However, historical data suggests that if the short-term moving average remains below the long-term moving average, it could pose challenges for stocks moving forward.

I have done the math, and the results are bearish for the stock market…

On average, the S&P 500 has poor performance over the next 1 to 3 months. 

Is this the kind of environment where we want to invest our capital? The impact on stocks in the near future...

In today’s Daily Digest, we’ll review the following:

1. New Position in ITB (US Home Construction).
2. No adjustments are needed today.
3. Closed XLY at Profit Target.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!

Gold Miners are ripping in 2025 as Gold futures continue to print fresh all-time highs.

Here's how the year has played out so far:

• The S&P 500 is down 8%
• Bitcoin is down 9%
• Bonds are flat
• Silver is up 12%
• Gold is up 22%
• And Gold Miners are up 47%

There has been a tremendous amount of dispersion in the returns.

Despite precious metals' clear leadership role this year, the short sellers have piled into the Gold miners.

From the Desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza.

Welcome back to Under the Hood, where we'll cover all the action for the two weeks ended April 11th, 2025. This report is published bi-weekly, in rotation with The Minor Leaguers.

What we do here is analyze the most popular stocks during the week and find opportunities to either join in and ride these momentum names higher, or fade the crowd and bet against them.

We use a variety of sources to generate the list of most popular names.

There are so many new data sources available that all we need to do is organize and curate them in a way that shows us exactly what we want: a list of stocks that are seeing an unusual increase in investor interest.

Click here for a behind-the-scenes look at our process.

Whether we’re measuring increasing interest based on large institutional purchases, unusual options activity, or simply our proprietary lists of trending tickers, there’...

Since volatility picked up in early March, I’ve found that shorter-term trades have really started to shine.

Take a look at this snapshot of my recent trades in All Star Options:

With only a couple of exceptions, nearly every trade I’ve put on lately has had no more than two months until expiration—and the majority are even shorter than that.

Why?

Because when the market starts acting like it’s had too much coffee and not enough sleep, long-dated trades become harder to trust. Shorter-duration setups, on the other hand, let me be nimble. I can lean into fast-moving setups, take my profits (or manage risk quickly), and move on.

And it’s working.

These quicker-turn trades have noticeably increased my win rate and put some much-needed green back into the account—right when the broader market has been having a bit of a meltdown.

A few things to note in the above screenshot:

The green rows are completed trades that hit profit targets or closed with gains.

The red ones, obviously, are stop-outs for losses.

The white rows are still open positions—but most are...

Since there seems to have been a bit of confusion about the $QQQ campaign that I embarked upon back on Wednesday, I'm creating a new post to help make new trades clearer for you all.

So far this AM, I've closed one of our put spreads at my profit target, and I'm adding a new one.

In today’s Daily Digest, we’ll review the following:

1. New position in TLT.
2. No adjustments are needed today.
3. No exits since the last report.
4. Current status of open campaigns.
5. Volatility Snapshot.

Let’s dig in!